Tom Moyer is Salisbury boys basketball's Father Time

'It helps the winter go by fast,' said Moyer, in his 50th season of being the timer at Falcons home games.

Tom Moyer (right) has been keeping the time at Salisbury boys basketball… (Kevin Mingora, THE MORNING…)

January 31, 2013|Keith Groller

In a society of constant change and in an era when more and more people bemoan the fact that "things aren't what they used to be," it's nice to know that at least one thing hasn't changed in local high school boys basketball.

No, we're not talking about fans' never being happy with the officials when a call goes against their team.

We're talking about the fact that if you go to a Salisbury boys basketball game, you'll see the same person at the scorer's table that you saw at Falcons contests in the 1960s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s.

It's the same person who has been at that scorer's table for the approximately 600 varsity home games Salisbury has played since the school opened its doors for the 1963-64 school year.

Players, coaches, officials, athletic directors and media people come and go, but it's comforting to know that Tom Moyer is still running the clock for Falcons home games.

This is the 50th year of Salisbury's existence, and thus, it's also the school's 50th boys basketball season and Moyer has been there with a first-row seat at almost every Falcons home game.

"When the high school first opened in 1963, I applied to become the JV basketball coach," Moyer remembered. "But they gave the job to Charlie Handwerk, which turned out to be a much better idea because Charlie had more experience than I did.

"And, of course, Bill Paulik was named the head coach. But they needed someone to run the scoreboard, and they offered me that job. And I said, 'Sure.' So I did it, and I've been doing it ever since. I got started and never stopped."

Moyer was a social studies teacher at the district's seventh- and eighth-grade center even before there was a Salisbury High School.

"I was there even before the beginning," said Moyer, 76.

Paulik once told me that the very first boys basketball game Salisbury was set to play was postponed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Moyer said "that sounds familiar, and we did start the seasons earlier back then, but I can't specifically remember that. I do remember that the first game was against Northwestern and Salisbury won it."

He retired as a teacher in 1997, but then-Salisbury Athletic Director Frank Scheck asked him if he wanted to stay on as the scoreboard operator, and Moyer happily accepted. Current AD Monica Deeb also kept him at the controls.

Any AD would be a fool to get rid of Moyer because reliability is such a hard commodity to find nowadays, and Moyer is truly Mr. Reliable.

He said he has only missed "three or four" games over the years, usually when the originally scheduled game was postponed and moved to another night when he had another commitment.

"Fortunately, I've been pretty healthy," Moyer said. "I get the schedule every year and then work around that."

Moyer said he's also been fortunate to be "controversy-free."

"I can't remember an incident with the clock," he said. "Once in awhile, the fans from the other team will be yelling to turn the clock on or turn it off, and that kind of thing, but fortunately, I've never had a problem with other coaches or referees."

Most coaches like Colonial League veterans Bob Shaffer of Southern Lehigh, who is retiring at the end of the season, Wilson's Bob Frankenfield and Catasauqua's Eric Snyder appreciate having an experienced timer like Moyer flicking the switches.

Moyer has adapted to the changing times as Salisbury moved into a more spacious gym, now named after Paulik, with a scoreboard that doesn't just give you the score and time, but also has the scoring totals for each other and the number of fouls each player has committed.

He misses the old gym, saying, "We used to really pack them in there because we had only bleachers on one side of the court."

He also misses some of the people who made Salisbury a special place, like the late Frank Yelinko, who was a longtime assistant before succeeding Paulik as head coach.

After many home games, Moyer would join Paulik, Yelinko, Handwerk and the late Larry Starner, who served as the team's scorekeeper, at the Commix Hotel a few miles away from Salisbury on Emmaus Avenue, where the guys would recap the night's events over a sandwich and liquid refreshment.

"Yes, that was our ritual after a Friday night home game," Moyer said.

And usually the gang would be talking about a Falcons victory.

"I've enjoyed this job because it gets me out and helps the winter go by fast and it also helps that Salisbury has always had good teams and players," Moyer said. "They're in contention for something almost every year, and [current coach] Jason Weaver has done an outstanding job with the team the last few years."

Moyer reminded that Salisbury has had very few coaching changes in its half-century of boys basketball with Paulik, Yelinko, Steve Neikam (now an assistant at Central Catholic), George Roman and Weaver being the only head coaches.